five days and fifty miles

I’ve just returned from Paria Canyon, one of the world’s “premiere” backpacks. Only a few people are allowed into the canyon each day from any direction, and we had to book our permits over three months in advance (and even then we just barely got in). I’d been waiting day after day for the past three months to go by, and it was well-worth every day I waited. I knew it would be great, but it was so magnificent, so utterly breath-taking, and so much better than I ever imagined it would be.

There were critters everywhere, everything from tiny tadpoles to bighorn sheep. Out of sight, mountain lions lurked, and down below, enormous caterpillars crawled alongside our feet. The canyon walls towered so high above, some areas never even see sun. We spent our days walking in the water and our nights sleeping on sand under the stars. We winded through Buckskin Gulch, the longest slot canyon in the world, and ventured to one of the most remote and largest natural arches in the world too. We climbed over beaver dams and combed through reeds as thick as the South American jungle. And an epic ending to an epic hike, we came out of the canyon just as the Paria River collided with the mighty Colorado at the Grand Canyon. To call it great is an understatement. To call it amazing is too. It was so much more.

Many, many more photos can be viewed here.

Filed under: the great outdoors

oh, baby!

Baby animals are the CUTEST!

Filed under: best friends

okay, seriously

Does it get any cuter?

No, I didn’t think so.

Filed under: best friends, wildlife

Zoe goes home

Zoe’s new home isn’t new to her. She was fostered by Adele in Los Angeles before coming to Best Friends six weeks ago. Thing is, Zoe was with another dog, Ginger, who she had always been with. Adele wanted to keep them both, but Ginger wouldn’t get along with her other dogs, so instead of separating them, they both came here. But Ginger got adopted last week, by herself, and as soon as she did, Adele came back to officially adopt Zoe. It was a happy reunion.

It always amazes me how much our animals really do remember us. Granted, Adele and Zoe were only separated six weeks, but Zoe knew who was coming as soon as she saw Adele’s car coming around the corner. Every time I had to leave my cats with my parents while I criss-crossed the country interning, I was always knocked over (literally) with love upon our reunion. Every time I go to Park City and see Chloe, months in between, her neurotic squeals just remind me of how much we really bonded in the week before I moved away. Or when I didn’t see my birds for over a year, and when I finally did, they whistled “our” song. Oh yes, they remember us all right. We don’t forget them, and they don’t forget us.

Filed under: best friends

Aristotle

Filed under: best friends, dogs

feline friends, oh how I love thee

Filed under: best friends, cats

odd bunch

We certainly have an interesting cast of characters here at Best Friends. We have fun.

Filed under: best friends